☆☆☆☆☆ | Undecided |
★☆☆☆☆ | Bad |
★★☆☆☆ | Fair |
★★★☆☆ | Good |
★★★★☆ | Great |
★★★★★ | Masterpiece |
Note: There are books listed here whose views I do not endorse. I try to break beyond my bubble and understand others. If you’re interested in my current beliefs, feel free to email me.
review | ★★★★★ | 2023-03-27 | John Kennedy Toole :: A Confederacy of Dunces |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2023-03-26 | Helen Fielding :: Bridget Jones’s Diary |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2023-03-23 | Brian McClellan :: Promise of Blood |
review | ★★★★★ | 2023-03-16 | Derek Sivers :: Anything You Want |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2023-03-12 | Martin E. P. Seligman :: Learned Optimism |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2023-03-12 | Connie Willis :: To Say Nothing of the Dog |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-03-07 | Kelly Link :: Get In Trouble |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-03-02 | David Mitchell :: Slade House |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-03-02 | Sylvia Plath :: The Bell Jar |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2023-02-22 | Dan Simmons :: The Fall of Hyperion |
review | ★★★★★ | 2023-02-13 | John Green :: The Anthropocene Reviewed |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-02-13 | David Sedaris :: Me Talk Pretty One Day |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-02-09 | Peter Thiel :: Zero to One |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-02-05 | Andy Weir :: Artemis |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2023-02-02 | Dan Simmons :: Hyperion |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2023-01-27 | Steven Pressfield :: The War of Art |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2023-01-26 | Scott Adams :: God’s Debris |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2023-01-24 | Anne Rice :: Interview with the Vampire |
review | ★★★★★ | 2023-01-21 | Haruki Murakami :: Norwegian Wood |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2023-01-18 | Brandon Sanderson :: The Way of Kings |
review | ★★★★★ | 2022-12-25 | Margaret Atwood :: The Handmaid’s Tale |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-12-19 | George Orwell :: Animal Farm |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-12-04 | Terry Pratchett :: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-11-27 | Kazuo Ishiguro :: The Remains of the Day |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2022-11-19 | Albert Camus :: The Stranger |
review | ★★★★★ | 2022-11-13 | Franz Kafka :: Metamorphosis |
review | ★★☆☆☆ | 2022-10-30 | Ryan Holiday :: Discipline is Destiny |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-10-16 | Phillip K. Dick :: Ubik |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-10-09 | Marshall Goldsmith :: Triggers |
review | ★★★☆☆ | 2022-10-02 | Gene Wolf :: Book of the New Sun |
review | ★★★★☆ | 2022-09-02 | Stanislaw Lem :: Solaris |
review | ★★★★★ | 2022-08-18 | Pearl S. Buck :: The Good Earth |
★★★☆☆ | 2022 | Neal Stephenson :: Cryptonomicon | |
★★★☆☆ | 2022 | Neil Gaiman :: Neverwhere | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Derek Sivers :: Anything You Want | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Derek Sivers :: How to Live | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | David Eagleman :: Sum: Tales from the Afterlives | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Stu Campbell :: Let It Rot! | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Falk :: The Resilient Farm and Homestead | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Halleck :: Gardening Under Lights | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Cal Newport :: Digital Minimalism | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Cal Newport :: So Good They Can’t Ignore You | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Scott Wynn :: Discovering Japanese Handplanes | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Toshio Odate :: Japanese Woodworking Tools | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Kip Mesirow and Ron Herman :: The Care And Use Of Japanese Woodworking Tools | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Aldren A. Watson :: Hand Tools | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Vic Tessolin :: The Minimalist Woodworker | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Anna Yudina :: Furnitechture | |
★★★☆☆ | 2022 | Neal Stephenson :: Anathem | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2022 | Pierre Bayard :: How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read | |
★★★☆☆ | 2021 | Patrick Rothfuss :: Name of the Wind | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2020 | Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Hero of Ages | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2020 | Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Well of Ascension | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2020 | Brandon Sanderson :: Mistborn: The Final Empire | |
★★★★☆ | Yuval Noah Harari :: Sapiens | ||
★★★☆☆ | Peter Tiel :: Zero to One | ||
★★★☆☆ | Dale Carnegie :: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living | ||
★★☆☆☆ | Malcolm Gladwell :: Talking to Strangers | ||
★★★★★ | Joseph Heller :: Catch-22 | ||
★★★☆☆ | Raymond Smullyan :: The Tao is Silent | ||
★★★★☆ | Neal Stephenson :: Seveneves | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Edmund Morriss :: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | William Gibson :: Distrust That Particular Flavor | ||
★★★☆☆ | Dave Eggers :: The Circle | ||
★★★★☆ | Derek Sivers :: Hell Yeah or No | ||
★★☆☆☆ | Jordan Peterson :: 12 Rules for Life | ||
★★☆☆☆ | 2020 | Ernest Cline :: Ready, Player One | |
★★★★★ | 2019 | Neal Stephenson :: Snowcrash | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2019 | Douglas Adams :: Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2019 | Jeff VanderMeer :: Annihilation | |
★★☆☆☆ | 2019 | Mark Haddon :: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time | |
★★★☆☆ | 2019 | Daniel Suarez :: Daemon | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2019 | Cliff Stoll :: High-Tech Heretic | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2019 | Smalltalk-80 | |
★★★☆☆ | 2018 | David Foster Wallace :: The Broom of the System | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2018 | David Foster Wallace :: Consider the Lobster | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2018 | David Foster Wallace :: A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2018 | Mark Rippetoe :: Starting Strength: Basic barbell Training | |
★★★☆☆ | Frank Herbert :: Dune | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Neil Gaiman :: Trigger Warning | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Scott Lynch :: The Lies of Loch Lamorah | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | James Gleick :: The Information | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Walter Isaacson :: Benjamin Franklin | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Tony Robbins :: Awaken the Giant Within | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Fred Brooks :: The Mythical Man Month | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2017 | Neil Gaiman :: The Graveyard Book | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2017 | Raymond Smullyan :: To Mock a Mockingbird | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | Seneca :: On the Shortness of Life | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Raymond Smullyan :: To Mock a Mockingbird | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Nassim Taleb :: Antifragile | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Alan Moore :: V for Vendetta | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Alan Moore :: Watchmen | ||
★★★☆☆ | Steve Brusatte :: Rise & Fall of Dinosaurs | ||
★★★★☆ | Benjamin Hoff :: The Tao of Poo | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Kahneman :: Thinking, Fast and Slow | ||
★★★★★ | Lao Tzu :: Tao Te Ching | ||
★★★★★ | Dale Carnegie :: How to Win Friends and Influence People | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2015 | David Sedaris :: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2015 | Yoshikawa :: Musashi | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2015 | Gleick :: Faster | |
★★★★★ | 2015 | Jared Diamond :: Guns, Germs, and Steel | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2015 | Douglas Hofstadter :: Metamagical Themas | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2015 | Marie Kondo :: Spark Joy | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Jonah Berger :: Contagious | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Goff :: Love Does | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Klosterman :: Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Smullyan :: The Tao is Silent | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Gaiman :: American Gods | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Brooks :: Business Adventures | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | David Foster Wallace :: A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Charles Duhigg :: The Power of Habit | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Douglas Hofstadter :: I am a Strange Loop | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Schwartz :: The Paradox of Choice | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Nassim Taleb :: The Black Swan | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Ferriss :: The 4-Hour Body | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Isaacson :: The Innovators | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Kondo :: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Richard Feynmann :: What Do You Care What Other People Think? | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Richard Feynmann :: Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynmann! | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Wong :: Being Taoist | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Taleb :: Antifragile | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Johnson :: How We Got to Now | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Harris :: Waking Up | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Weir :: The Martian | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Osho :: Learning to Silence the Mind | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Drucker :: Managing Oneself | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Snow :: Smartcuts | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | MacLeod :: Ignore Everybody | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Munroe :: What If? | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Rand :: The Fountainhead | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Sahn :: Dropping Ashes on the Buddha | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2014 | Cohelo :: The Alchemist | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Ben Carson :: Gifted Hands | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Sophocles :: Oedipus Rex | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Zhuangzi | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Tacitus :: Agricola | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Gladwell :: David and Goliath | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Gangi :: Theodore Roosevelt: His Essential Wisdom | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Ohanian :: Without their Permission | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Snicket :: The Bad Beginning | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Trump :: Think Big and Kick Ass | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Sophocles :: Oedipus Rex | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Asimov :: Foundation | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Asimov :: Second Foundation | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Asimov :: Foundation’s Edge | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Card :: Ender’s Game | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Card :: Speaker for the Dead | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2013 | Levitt & Dubner :: Think Like a Freak | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Foer :: Moonwalking with Einstein | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Hesse :: Siddhartha | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Ching :: A Visual Dictionary of Architecture | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Plato :: The Republic | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Martin :: This is a Book | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | May :: In Pursuit of Elegance | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Alighieri :: Divine Comedy, Part 1: Inferno | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Rand :: The Virtue of Selfishness | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Dawkins :: The Selfish Gene | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Castro and Hyslop :: HTML5/CSS3 | |
★★★★★ | 2012 | Hofstadter :: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Pirsing :: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Singh :: Fermat’s Enigma | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Hartman :: The People Code | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Lao-Tzu :: Te-Tao Ching | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Salinger :: The Catcher in the Rye | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Fitzgerald :: The Great Gatsby | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Vonnegut :: Cat’s Cradle | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Smullyan :: 5000BC | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Thoreau :: Walden | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Bonanos :: Instant: The Story of Polaroid | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Schroeder :: The Snowball | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Sacks :: Musicophilia | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Edelman :: Second Nature | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Nagel and Newman :: Gödel’s Proof | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Johnson :: Emergence | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Griffin :: Two Great Truths | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Goldberg :: The Executive Mind | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Aleksandern :: How to Build a Mind | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Newport :: How to Become a Straight-A Student | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Adams :: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Buford :: Halftime | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Greene :: Mastery | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Oldstone-Moore :: Taoism | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Warwick :: Artificial Intelligence: The Basics | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Schonberger and Cukier :: Big Data | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Fagerstrom and Smith :: Show Me How | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Hoff :: The Tao of Pooh | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Mark Twain :: The Autobiography of Mark Twain | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2012 | Graham :: Hackers and Painters | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Wozniak :: iWoz | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Isaacson :: Steve Jobs | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Paine :: The Age of Reason | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Phillips :: Your God is Too Small | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Franklin :: The Way to Wealth | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Cohen :: Stuff Every Man Should Know | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Miller, Benjamin, and North :: The Economics of Public Issues | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Steinbeck :: Cannery Row | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Marx :: The Communist Manifesto | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Lobenstine :: The Renaissance Soul | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Abbott :: Flatland | |
★★☆☆☆ | 2011 | Rand :: Atlas Shrugged | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Ayres :: The Mentor | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Gilmore :: Alice in Quantumland | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Machiavelli :: The Prince | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Doyle :: A Study in Scarlet & Hound of the Baskervilles | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Burgess :: A Clockwork Orange | |
★★★★★ | 2011 | Heller :: Catch-22 | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Hamilton :: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Palahnluk :: Fight Club | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Vonnegurt :: Slaughterhouse Five | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Alcott :: The Young Man’s Guide | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Huxley :: A Brave New World | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Gladwell :: Blink | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Morris :: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Hawking :: A Brief History of Time | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | White :: Steps to Christ | |
★★☆☆☆ | 2011 | Moore :: Batman: The Killing Joke | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Dawkins :: The God Delusion | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Washington :: Rules of Civility | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Chbosky :: The Perks of Being a Wall Flawer | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Sun Tzu :: The Art of War | |
★★★☆☆ | 2011 | Meyers :: Twilight | |
★★☆☆☆ | 2011 | Rowling :: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Moore and Gillette :: King, Warrior, Magician, Lover | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Flew :: There is a God | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Pink :: Drive | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Musashi :: The Book of Five Rings | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Russell :: The Problems of Philosophy | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Lee :: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Gladwell :: Outliers | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Keller :: Reasons for God | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | David Allen :: The Art of Getting Things Done | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Chimero :: The Shape of Design | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Conwell :: Increasing Personal Efficiency | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Gleick :: Chaos | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Rand :: Anthem | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Wallace :: Consider the Lobster | |
★☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Beck :: The Alpha Male Guide | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Gladwell :: What the Dog Saw | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Levitt and Dubner :: Freakonomics | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | 2011 | Suzanne Collins :: The Hunger Games | |
☆☆☆☆☆ | Daniel Keys :: Flowers for Algernon | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Junji Ito :: Uzumaki | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Mark Z. Danielewski :: Only Revolutions | ||
☆☆☆☆☆ | Mark Z. Danielewski :: House of Leaves |
A Confederacy of Dunces
Nutty Professor meets Don Quixote meets Infinite Jest. A literary landmark ahead of its time.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
An endearing read about the difficulties of young adult life and womanhood in the modern era. Contains great tongue-in-cheek commentaries on health, feminism, egotism, and addiction.
Promise of Blood
It’s a charming adventure/fantasy story with good characters and cool magic – nothing revolutionary.
Anything You Want
I adore this short book. Anything You Want celebrates simplicity and sincerity. It reads like a guide to entrepeneurship for Taoists. I’ve read a lot of business books, and none come close to hitting this hard. Companies forget their customers and drink bureaucratic kool-aid in the pursuit of profits. As I’m starting my own business, I keep coming back to this book to remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing.
Learned Optimism
This book has exactly three good observations: (1) optimists attribute permanent causes to good events and temporary causes to bad events, (2) optimism is useful when risk is minimal, and (3) optimism is dangerous in risky situations. Learned Optimism would have been an excellent 250-word book.
To Say Nothing of the Dog
Witty, but distractingly British.
Get In Trouble
The Summer People is one of the best short stories I’ve ever encountered. The other stories in this collection are well-written but failed to hit me in the feels – intriguing plot premises and a great literary style wasted on young-adult subject matter.
Slade House
This book is a structural marvel but hollow inside. It gives great pacing with lackluster payoffs.
The Bell Jar
This is a must-read for anybody who wants to learn what it’s like to have a mental breakdown, or love somebody in a dark place. This book was well-written but too painfully familiar. This book made me sad without being charming or teaching me anything new. It stole from me and gave me nothing in return, but I imagine it has much to give others.
The Fall of Hyperion
This book seemed to have a lot to say. It wanted to be philosophical, it wanted to be adventurous, it wanted to be suspenseful, it wanted to be mysterious, and it wanted to be thought-provoking. But in my opinion, it didn’t do a great job at anything in particular. Or maybe its brilliance was wasted on me.
The Anthropocene Reviewed
Painfully human essays; five stars.
Me Talk Pretty One Day
Witty and deeply personal essay collection. Great insights on parenting, grief, pets, language, and addiction.
Zero to One
Solid book on the how & why of founding a startup.
Artemis
This book is a well-researched sci-fi MacGyver adventure story. It’s got great characters and a fast plot. Solid book.
Hyperion
Hyperion is unusually refreshing sci-fi. It’s 6-8 interconnected short stories with drama, horror, mystery, and awe. Some sections didn’t age well, but the writing is incredible in some parts, and some of its ideas are downright brilliant.
The War of Art
If you need inspiration or a swift kick-in-the-butt, read this book. Since reading, I’ve been unable to make my usual excuses that divert me from my art and career and health. For me, every page contained a mixture of timeless wisdom and awful advice. This book is overall charming and pragmatic.
God’s Debris
From few axioms, God’s Debris forms a surprisingly coherent religion, philosophy of science, and practical life advice; a worthwhile ~90-minute read.
Interview with the Vampire
Imagine The Count of Monte Cristo meets Faust meets Twilight – it’s an epic tale with deep philosophical underpinnings… and vampires! This book is worth reading if you want to dramatically ponder death, love, and evil.
Norwegian Wood
This book should be labeled with an extreme trigger warning. It covers death and sex and more death and more sex and a whole lot of depression. Imagine blending together Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Scott Pilgrim, and a smut novel. I think I learned a lot about selfishness and happiness from this experience. I wish I read this when I was 19.
The Way of Kings
If Sanderson’s Mistborn is The Chronicles of Narnia, then The Stormlight Archives is The Lord of the Rings. It’s magical, political, and finely crafted. Brandon Sanderson knows how to write payoffs. This book alone contains 383,000 words, so clear your schedule before reading.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Much of The Handmaid’s Tale is surely beyond my comprehension, but it provided a sobering glimpse into some of the unfairnesses of nature and society. Atwood’s general take on United States fundamentalism is outstanding. The book is riveting throughout, but its ending secures it a “modern masterpiece”.
Animal Farm
Animal Farm delightfully illustrates how authoritarian regimes usurp control. Although the book seemed to be specifically a critique of Stalin’s Russia, there are gems to glean about perverse institutional incentives.
The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)
This was my first Terry Pratchett book. Oh boy, what a delight! If you like clever authors like Raymond Smullyan and Douglas Adams, you’ll adore his writing. The Colour of Magic covers some surprisingly deep ideas about science and religion wearing a witty grin.
The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day is a subtle story from the perspective of a charming butler. I highly recommend this book if you’re in a wistful mood or receptive to deep introspection.
The Stranger
This book is very highly acclaimed. After reading it, I thought I missed something, so I read a few critical analyses – nope, I understood it perfectly. The Stranger has a decent plot with great writing. This book was probably ground-breaking in 1942, but existentialism has been beaten to death since then. On my end, this is probably a case of “Seinfeld is unfunny”.
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is potent. It’s witty, horrific, deep, and bizarre – an unforgettable experience.
Discipline is Destiny
This book was inspiring but forgettable. All the examples of disciplined people got me pumped, but I didn’t find much actionable content.
Ubik
Good sci-fi stories explore “cool ideas”. Ubik miraculously interleaves 3-5 “cool ideas”. And it keeps topping itself with bigger and bigger extensions of its core “cool ideas”. Read Ubik if you like “cool ideas”.
Triggers
This is a self-help book that delivers. It’s an incredibly useful guide on how to enact lasting change in yourself. This book focuses on growth via environmental cues. I particularly liked the concrete advice on daily active questions, accountability partners, and actionable ways to change cognitive contexts.
Book of the New Sun
These books are extremely subversive, yet the author falls prey to the exact tropes he’s “subverting”. The plot oscillates between mind-bending self-reference and painful self-awarelessness. Some of the twists are incredible. I suspect that this is an excellent book that aged poorly.
Solaris
A sci-fi book that gave me literal nightmares. It’s unsettling and thought-provoking.
The Good Earth
A heartbreaking rags-to-riches-to-rags story about wealth, family, work, fairness, kindness, and land. It’s easy to see why a book about rural Chinese peasants was the best-selling book in the US during The Dust Bowl and The Great Depression. This book will inspire or haunt you.